Karen Read supporters rally in Massachusetts on Labor Day
Karen Read supporters rallied for her in Massachusetts on Sept. 2. She spoke to demonstrators on Monday and compared her supporters to Vietnam War protesters. (Credit: Hannah Lear /TMX)
Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was suspended in the wake of Karen Read's mistrial, is not expected to be called as a witness in another high-profile case in the state.
Prosecutors preparing for the trial against Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife in 2023, informed Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday that they do not plan to call Proctor as a witness, The Sun Chronicle reported.
Formerly an investigator assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office and the lead investigator in Read's case, Proctor was suspended after he was questioned at her murder trial about unprofessional, vulgar text messages he shared with a group of friends.
State Trooper Michael Proctor testifies during Karen Read's trial, June 12, 2024, in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Read, 44, is accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, with her SUV outside a party in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die in a snowstorm after a night of heavy drinking. Her trial began in April and ended in mistrial on July 1 after jurors were left deadlocked.
A judge declined to dismiss the murder case against Read last month, and prosecutors plan to retry her in January.
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Proctor's text messages about Read included calling her a "wack job," a "babe… with no a--" and a "c---"; wishing she would kill herself; and joking about looking for nudes on her phone.
He apologized to the jury for his "unprofessional" comments. He has since been suspended.
Brian Walshe, accused of killing wife Anna, who disappeared on New Year's Day 2023, enters the courtroom for his arraignment, April 27, 2023, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Proctor was the designated case officer in Walshe's arrest. Cohasset Police Department Sgt. Harrison Schmidt was assigned to an identical role and "dozens" of other officers from that department and the Massachusetts State Police were also part of the investigation, WCVB reported.
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Last week, Massachusetts State Police provided copies of Proctor's phone and work cloud data to the team working on the Read case. But within that filing, prosecutors warn that compromising data – like criminal offender records, information about confidential informants, private data from grand jury proceedings and content about ongoing investigations – could be included.
Brian and Ana Walshe pose in Boston Public Gardens on their wedding day, Dec. 21, 2015. Walshe is accused of killing and potentially dismembering Ana in January 2023. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Walshe's murder trial is slated to begin on Oct. 2. The body of his wife, Ana Walshe, has still not been located more than a year after she was reported missing in January 2023.
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In June, law expert Shira Diner predicted that Proctor's uncouth messages could impact Walshe's trial.
"It's hard for me to see how this doesn't impact this [Brian Walshe's case] and the credibility of the DA's office," Diner previously told Fox News Digital.
Karen Read departs Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Aug. 9, 2024. (Patriot Pics/Backgrid for Fox News Digital)
"In some ways, this is completely uncharted," Diner said because of how detailed the texts are and how many eyes are on this particular trial.
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"If this was a trial where no one was paying attention, the cross-examination (of Proctor) would have come and gone, and maybe a few defense lawyers would have been paying attention, but that's pretty much it," Diner said. "But now, there's no way to undo this."
Fox News Digital's Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.
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